AND WE THE PEOPLE

Missionary stories have lost much of their appeal mostly because there have been several outstanding of heroic stature which make the average one bland by comparison. In this description of ten years with the primitive Mengen tribes of New Guinea Father O'Neill given an excellent appreciation of the primitive people carrying on an existence independent of the outside world. The beliefs, the habits and the natural law manifested in the actions, practices and rituals of these tribes referred to by themselves as ""we, the people"", are fully explained. Father O'Neill, a Missionary Priest of the Sacred heart, illustrated how it was not difficult for these people to accept Christianity because it basically existed in its primeval form with them. The only false note detectable is the illerate language into which the conversation of the natives is translated by the author. This is a lively and frequently humorous depiction of what life with a primitive people is like, seen from their point of view, by a priest who loved and respected the people with whom he worked and lived.